


The Waynes' Baby-Sitter

by RiceBullet



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Maribat - Fandom, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, MLBxDC, MariBat, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Deserves Better
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:08:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27878873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiceBullet/pseuds/RiceBullet
Summary: Marinette needed to rebuild her life after a certain incident...She who dreamed of being a stylist is now... The Baby-sitter of a whole family?!
Relationships: Batfamily Members & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Alfred Pennyworth, No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 81
Kudos: 406





	1. I hate my life.

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [celeste's maribat ideas](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27463327) by [moonlitceleste](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlitceleste/pseuds/moonlitceleste). 



> I would especially like to thank moonlitceleste. It was one of her posts on Tumblr that inspired me to write this story.  
> Thank you for that!

Marinette was extremely nervous. She had come to America to change her life, to forget her past, to start afresh.

The young woman had first tried her luck in New York.

Alas, everything did not go as she had hoped. Marinette had great difficulty finding work, she had almost no work experience outside of her parents' bakery. She managed to babysit for her neighbors and help the children with their homework, but it was far from the stylist's career she dreamed of.

She soon ran out of money. Life in New York was expensive, and she was on her own, as her parents had turned their backs on her.

She tried her luck in several different cities. Without success. It was as if the world was against her.

That's how Marinette landed in Gotham.

It was far from being the city of her dreams. It was one of the most dangerous cities in the world. However, the advantage was that in some parts of the city the rent was really cheap... It was in this city with a very bad reputation that Marinette finally managed to find a job. An old lady took pity on her and agreed to take her in her small grocery store. She was now working as a polyvalent employee.

Far from the successful career she had always dreamed of. But now the bluenette was much more aware of the reality of the job market. It takes a lot of luck to break into the world of fashion without any contact. And that luck... she no longer had it. Master Fu had taken back her Miraculous, after... _the accident_.

One evening, as the store was about to close, Marinette thought she was hallucinating when she saw Batman enter the grocery store. At least, the one she assumed to be Batman. The bluenette took a deep breath and approached Gotham's most famous vigilante. She had to keep it professional! As she got closer, she realized that Batman had a baby in his arms.

**A baby!**

She didn't notice it right away (too shocked by Batman's entrance into the store), but the baby was crying.

“Good evening sir, can I help you?”

She gave him her best smile. Even though deep down inside Marinette was completely panicking, she was not supposed to show it. God only knew what this man could do to her if she ever upset him, and she had no more Miraculous to protect her...

“Hmm. Diapers.”

Marinette blinked several times. Then her gaze returned to the baby in the arms of the vigilant. The bluenette wanted to tell him that he was holding the poor baby very badly, but she restrained herself.

It was none of her business.

“I think I have what you need. Just a moment.”

He was still an infant, maybe 3 or 4 months old at the most. She quickly got the proper diapers. She could hear the baby's crying increasing by the second.

This baby was hungry, and the way Batman was holding him, the poor baby must have been in a very uncomfortable position too.

When she returned to the vigilant. He was trying to calm the baby down. Even though he was waving his arms gently and speaking in a language that Marinette didn't know to try to calm him down, it wasn't working. The baby's crying was now almost hysterical.

_Okay, then. It's time to stop this carnage._

Marinette approached Batman.

“Do you mind?”

She didn't give him time to answer and took the baby in her arms.

“Well then, little one, are you feeling sad? Here, slowly, it's all right, Auntie will fix everything.”

She grabbed a packet of diapers, opened it. She got everything she needed from the shelves. Then she turned to Batman.

“Can I borrow your cape? It's not a good idea to put the baby in direct contact with the countertop.”

The man handed her the cape without a word. She could feel his piercing gaze on her, but the young woman chose to royally ignore the vigilant to focus on the baby.

With an expert hand, she changed him in record time. Then, she huddled him against her, while gently caressing his back.

“That's it... It's over.”

The baby's crying calmed down. He was still sobbing, but it was not as loud as when he arrived.

Marinette looked again at the vigilant man in front of her, who was still staring at her silently.

“Did you feed him?”

“No, I didn't.”

“Hmm. Well, give me some time to make him a bottle, he's clearly hungry.”

“………..”

Luckily, in the back of the store there was a space for the staff. It wasn't ideal for preparing a baby's meal, but it was clearly better than nothing. She took a bottle from the shelf, put it in a pot of boiling water to disinfect it, and then began to make the necessary dosages to prepare the powdered milk.

The baby began to shake in her arms.

“Shhh... Slowly, it's almost ready, just a little more patience little one.”

Once the bottle was at the right temperature, Marinette sat down on a chair, put the baby on her lap and put the bottle in his mouth.

This baby had incredibly green eyes, very expressive. He had dark skin and black hair. He was absolutely adorable.

Her intuition was right. The baby devoured his bottle, almost desperately. She gently whistled a lullaby.

The baby drank most of the bottle. Marinette then burped him. She kept the baby close to her a little longer. He was now completely calm and looked at her with curiosity. With his little hand he tried to grab a lock of her hair.

Marinette got up from her chair and approached Batman, who had been watching her all this time, in silence.

**It was absolutely creepy.**

She handed him the baby.

“I think he's going to be quiet now.”

Batman took the baby back. Marinette couldn't help but reprimand him.

“You're holding him wrong. You have to support his head more.”

She placed the man's hands properly.

“There you go. That's it.”

“Thank you. Miss?”

“Oh, I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, thank you. You're very good with babies...”

“Experience... I've done a lot of babysitting...”

“Hmm.”

Batman then paid for all the products Marinette had used and left.

Marinette closed the store and quickly went home.

It was only when she found herself alone in her tiny flat, that she fell to the floor, shaking.

_I met Batman... I took care of Batman's baby... I reprimanded Batman... I'm completely crazy! OH MY GOD I TALKED TO BATMAN!_

After this event... Marinette thought that she would never see the vigilante again in her life, and that it was just a coincidence. A kind of unique encounter.

Really, what was the probability of seeing Batman again?

If she was an ordinary person. That's probably what would have happened. But instead?

Marinette found herself meeting not Batman... but the rest of his crew!

**The first was Robin.**

He walked into the convenience store and asked if she had fresh coffee.

The bluenette had been seriously tempted to tell him that this was a grocery store and not a Starbucks but refrained from making any comment. Instead, she smiled politely and said she could make some.

“Thank you, Miss Dupain-Cheng.”

The Eurasian woman blinked several times and then walked as calmly as possible to the back of the store. Marinette did her best not to leave screaming in fear.

She had never said her name to this guy before! How could he know her?! Oh my goodness, had Batman told his subordinates about her?

She made coffee, not with the coffee from the grocery store, but with the coffee she brought from home. The coffee from the grocery store was very bad.

The young woman made a whole pot of coffee and handed it to the young vigilant in front of her.

“Do you... need anything else?”

Robin took a packet of cookies and paid. He left her a huge $100 bill to "compensate" for the pot of coffee.

Marinette didn't have time to protest, the vigilante left.

She was genuinely shocked.

_Who gives a $100 bill to a stranger?! Oh, my God... I gave Robin my coffee mug!_

**Then... Nightwing appeared.**

Marinette felt her heart miss a beat when she saw Nightwing walk through the doors of the grocery store. Was... Was Batman watching her? Was that the message he was trying to send? Perhaps she had been a little too familiar with the man?

When he saw her, he smiled and walked towards her.

Marinette felt a cold sweat running down her whole body.

He had come to kill her?!

“Good evening Miss, do you by any chance have any ice cream?”

Once again, Marinette blinked several times. She smiled at him as best she could, while trying to hide her terror.

“Of course, they are at the back, on your left.”

“Thank you!”

The bluenette watched the man leave to the back of the grocery store.

_He wants to eat ice cream... In the middle of November?_

Marinette had the unpleasant impression that Nightwing had just come to watch her.

He came back with three jars of ice cream, four packs of chips and a bottle of soda.

The vigilant paid for the products and left.

**Then... It was Red Hood's turn.**

He was very fast. He bought just two packs of beer and left without saying anything.

On the other hand, he left her two 100-dollar bills.

_What's wrong with those guys leaving me money?!_

Marinette didn't know if she should be reassured or totally petrified.

She was also visited by Spoiler, and later by Orphan.

Even Batman returned to the grocery store. And just like Robin and Red Hood, he left huge bills at the cash register. Marinette was silent. She was far too scared to ask them why they were doing this.

However, if Marinette got used to seeing guys in disguises coming into the store over time, her working conditions got worse every day.

The old woman who had hired her, understood that Marinette was an immigrant, and that she needed the job. So she began to exploit Marinette. First, she started by cutting staff. There were originally three workers, now she was the only one who was still there. There were people hired from time to time, but always for a short period of time.

Marinette found herself doing all the openings and closings. She had to do all the most thankless tasks. She had to manage to put the products on the shelves by herself.

She was working overtime that wasn't paid.

It was exploitation.

And there was nothing the young woman could do.

She had no family to rely on, no friends. It was the only job she had managed to find after months of searching. It was very poorly paid, but at least she had a source of income and an address. This was what she needed to renew her visa.

So, Marinette had to put up with everything in silence.

She got up very early every day and went to bed very late, because the grocery store closed at 11pm (the owner had decided to extend the opening hours, and of course it was up to Marinette to take care of everything, obviously the old woman was not going to take the risk of walking alone in Gotham in the middle of the night).

The bluenette was scared to death every night. She would hurry home, too afraid to run into thieves, or anyone else with a bad intention.

Her life had improved a little since she was receiving tips from the vigilantes. It helped her buy food. The salary she received barely helped her pay for her tiny apartment. (Without Marinette knowing why, the owner of her apartment had decided to increase her rent. Obviously, he too had realized that no matter how much he charged, she had no choice but to pay).

Now she could afford to eat twice a day instead of just one meal (when she could) before.

The bluenette also took the liberty of buying a convertible sofa, after saving up for a few weeks... (she slept on the floor, not being able to afford to spend any money).

She felt very uneasy about using that money. Basically, it wasn't money she deserved. She didn't even know why these people were leaving her so much money.

Then, one night, as she was about to close the grocery store. She heard that someone had come in. The bluenette immediately went to the front of the store to let the person know that the store was closed.

She stopped dead in her tracks.

It was not one person who had come in, but three men. All three of them wearing hoods.

_Oh no..._

A robbery. Of course, one day there would be a robbery.

It was a miracle that she didn't have any trouble.

One of the men, the heaviest man, pointed a gun at her. The second man on his right threw a bag in her face.

“Put all the money in the cash box.”

Marinette had no choice but to obey. She put the money in the bag and put it on the counter. Just when she thought they were about to leave, the third man grabbed her and dragged her to the back of the store.

The bluenette knew exactly what to expect.

And there was no way she was going to let it happen nicely.

Marinette gave a well-placed kick. The man collapsed screaming insults. The Eurasian came out of the back of the store and tried to leave the grocery store through the second door in the back. However, she was caught by the man who threw the bag in her face.

She began to struggle. 

Then she heard shots. The man she had hit earlier joined the man who was holding her.

The man immediately pulled her against him and pointed his gun at her head.

“You scream and I'll shoot you, got it?”

He advanced slowly, using her as a shield.

The second man followed with his gun in his hand.

Marinette could then briefly see a red helmet.

It was Red Hood! She was saved! She had to get the attention of the vigilant.

It was probably completely suicidal, but it was better than being used as a pleasure object by these men. Marinette bit the arm of the man who was holding her with all her might. 

The man let out a scream. He let go of her, but immediately gave her a violent blow to the face with the sleeve of his gun.

The second man pointed his gun at her. Before he could pull the trigger, two shots rang out and both men fell to the ground. Marinette didn't wait, she quickly got up and rushed towards Red Hood.

At that very moment she didn't care whether these guys were dead or just wounded, she just wanted to get to safety.

God, she was in complete panic.

So, without really thinking, she huddled up against the vigilante. The young woman was shaking, and finally let out a few sobs.

One hand landed on her head and another gently patted her back.

“It's all right, it's all over now.”

Following this incident, the police were called. Marinette had to spend a long time making a statement. Finally, she learned that the men were injured, but none of them had died. She was surprised to feel... disappointed.

Red Hood was kind enough to take her home. She was grateful to him. She wasn't sure she had the courage to go home alone after this event.

A misfortune that never happens alone... The next day... The old woman chooses to confront her in front of the customers (yes, the store had to reopen despite what had happened, Marinette had to clean up all the mess).

“Do you have any idea how much money I'll have to spend to fix everything?!Who is going to reimburse all the expenses, HUH?! YOU MAYBE? I gave you a job, and this is how you thank me?!”

“I-I'm sorry... I had to defend myself and...”

“Defend yourself? DEFEND YOURSELF?! You should have shut up and let it happen!”

“W-What?!”

“At least there wouldn't have been any damage to my grocery store! Now you're going to work for me for free, until you pay back the debt you owe me, got it?”

Marinette felt like she was hallucinating. Not only was this audacious woman exploiting her, but now she wanted to make her a slave? These men wanted to... And this old witch wanted... to…

There were three customers in the store, three brothers who regularly came to do small errands in the grocery store. Marinette liked them very much, they were very nice. Their eyes fixed on her.

**Marinette had never felt so humiliated in her life.**

“No.”

“WHAT DID YOU SAID?!”

“I SAID NO!”

Marinette pushed the old woman, who fell to the ground. She ran away from the grocery store as fast as she could, without looking back.

Once alone in her small apartment, she began to cry.

She was fed up.

Still crying, she quickly packed her suitcase. She didn't have much money, but what she had left was enough to buy a bus ticket.

Marinette went down the stairs. She wiped her tears with her hands.

As she was about to leave the building, she bumped into someone.

“I'm sorry about that.”

She didn't even look at the person and ran out quickly. She had had her fill of humiliation for the day.

“Hey! Miss Dupain-Cheng!”

Marinette stopped, then turned around. She recognized the man who called her as one of the brothers who always came to the grocery store, the same one who was present when the old woman was arguing with her.

She remembered his name as Dick Grayson. At least that was how he introduced himself.

How had he found her? She was sure she had never given her address to anyone. The only person who went home was Red Hood. And Red Hood was taller than this guy.

“Can I help you, Mr. Grayson?”

“Sort of... can we talk for a moment?”

Marinette hesitated.

She realized that Grayson's two other brothers, were moving in their direction. 

The bluenette did know about the café. And... it was located on a very busy street.

“I can't afford to go there. It's too expensive.”

“Since I'm the one who has a proposition to make you, I offer you the coffee.”

“I don't do this kind of thing.”

Grayson's eyes opened slightly. He had probably just realized what his proposal might imply.

“It's absolutely not... It was not...”

“Seriously Dick? Don't you have an even more ambiguous sentence to come out with?”

The one who just spoke was named Jason. He started arguing with Grayson. Marinette felt uncomfortable and didn't know how to react to the situation.

“Here. Take this.”

The young woman then looked at the third brother, a certain Tim. He was handing her a handkerchief.

_Ah... Right..._

She had been crying. The bluenette wasn't very presentable. Grayson and Jason's fight had distracted her, she had stopped crying. Nevertheless, she accepted the handkerchief.

“What Dick meant was simply that right now we are looking for someone who could work for our family.”

“What? “

“We have a little brother, just a few months old. But none of us have the experience to take care of him. Our butler isn't very young anymore, he can't keep him and take care of the other tasks at the same time.”

“A little brother... a few months old.”

_A butler?_

These guys had a butler? What kind of person had a butler?! They were rich? Why would kids from a rich family come to a place like this?!

Marinette frowned. This story was suspicious, there was something fishy going on.

“Why are you talking to me? There are plenty of people much more qualified than me to take care of your... little brother.”

“Qualified doesn't mean trustworthy, Miss Dupain-Cheng.”

Marinette blinked several times.

There was only a very small group of people who called her "Miss Dupain-Cheng".

A small group of Vigilant.

The young woman stared at the young man in front of her. He must have been just a year or two younger than her. Then she looked up at the other two, who had stopped arguing. Grayson was tall, rather athletic and handsome. Jason was taller than his brother, with broader shoulders.

_Is it... Is it possible that?_

Marinette decided to trust her instincts.

_Something inside me tells me I'm going to regret that decision._

“Hmm... We should sit down... over some coffee...”

The boy, Tim, smiles at her. Grayson and Jason seemed relieved by her answer.

Marinette wasn't really sure it was a good idea... But well...

_Come what may._


	2. What kind of mess have I gotten myself into?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How long was she going to survive in this immense Mansion without goofing around. And above all... By trying to pretend she didn't understand that Bruce Wayne was Batman. Well... Let's just say that she had huge doubts about it.
> 
> After having sacrificed part of her teenage years playing superhero, she didn't want to set foot in this ungrateful world again. 
> 
> That's how Marinette Dupain-Cheng started working for the Wayne family. 
> 
> She was clearly not ready.

**Gotham, 10:30 am.**

Marinette got the most unexpected job offer of all time.

To become the babysitter for Gotham's richest guy's son. Oh, and who was also known to be a Don Juan. A guy who, by the way, had three sons who looked like statues of Greek gods and a daughter who should have been a model, she was so gorgeous (she had already seen a picture of her in a magazine).

Ah... They also had a butler, they lived in a kind of castle which had nothing to envy to the French ones...

It was not only unexpected, but completely mortifying.

The Wayne family was a bit like the "Kardashians" of Gotham. So much was said about them that it was difficult to tell the difference between the true and the false.

Marinette had almost fallen off her chair when Timothy Wayne talked to her about the salary.

A salary with six numbers couldn't be real! These people didn't live in the world of mortals like her. They came from a parallel universe.

Her mission? To take care of the baby.

That was it. Well, not quite. She was going to have to live in the Manor for that. She wouldn't have to worry about food, because that was part of her "accommodations" (who still uses those kinds of terms?!).

And this guy wanted to give her a paycheck with six numbers for that. The bluenette hesitated. She looked at the other two young men present at the coffee table. Both were looking at her, waiting for her answer. This made her extremely nervous.

The young woman started staring at her coffee cup. It was too surreal of a proposal to be serious. These guys just wanted to make fun of her, didn't they? On the other hand, with that kind of money, she wouldn't have to worry about going hungry.

The only thing she had left now was her dignity. She had already lost everything.

“Is Mr. Wayne aware that you are asking me to work for you?”

“Well... he's the one who asked us to offer it to you. He would have made the call himself, but he's very busy at the moment.”

“Hmmm.”

Marinette takes a sip of his coffee.

“Does Mr. Wayne know me? I don't remember talking to him.”

The bluenette was intrigued to find that, rather than being offended, the three young men seemed amused by the situation.

“You didn't meet him directly, but you happened to do him a huge favor. Well, to all of us.”

Marinette frowned.

_They're not going to talk about Batman, are they?_

They talked about Batman.

Marinette then chose to accept, while pretending that she hadn't discovered the identity of the young men in front of her. Well, "discovered" was a big word. Let's rather say that she had serious suspicions.

And then... Bruce Wayne was a good person, he had done a lot of good deeds for the city of Gotham. *Desperately trying to convince herself that she had made a good decision.*

-XxxX-

Marinette was staring at the baby in front of her. He had swarthy skin, adorable green eyes and black hair.

He was the baby she had changed some time earlier in the grocery store where she worked. The baby that was in Batman's arms.

So... Two options were open to her:

Option one: Batman saved Bruce Wayne's son.

Option two: Bruce Wayne is Batman.

At this point, Marinette was certain that both options were true.

Marinette was on the verge of panic when she saw that Bruce Wayne was the one who came to greet her. Bruce Wayne himself.

Please, I hope I don't get my foot in the door somewhere....

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, hello, it is a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“Day Good... I mean Good morning...”

_Sh*t!_

Marinette also met Alfred Pennywoth. Bat-... Bruce Wayne was already very impressive. But Alfred Pennywoth was scary. She felt like she had met the real master of the place.

The bluenette got a tour of the Mansion with Alfred. Then she ended her visit in the baby's room, which was bigger than her parents' apartment in Paris.

The most important question in Marinette's mind?

How long was she going to survive in this immense Mansion without goofing around. And above all... By trying to pretend she didn't understand that Bruce Wayne was Batman. Well... Let's just say that she had huge doubts about it.

After having sacrificed part of her teenage years playing superhero, she didn't want to set foot in this ungrateful world again.

That's how Marinette Dupain-Cheng started working for the Wayne family.

**She was clearly not ready.**

Damian was a little goblin. It was as if this baby was doing everything he could to put out her patience. He refused to eat, was constantly whimsical, threw his toys on the floor and then started to scream, tried to pull her hair as soon as he had the chance... However, Marinette was used to these small acts. Damian didn't intimidate her.

And little Damian quickly understood that he wouldn't win against her.

He refused to eat? No problem, Marinette would take a spoon and start eating right in front of him. Damian would scream and eat his food without flinching.

He didn't want to sleep at night? No problem. Marinette kept him awake during the day. He slept through the night without a problem. It was sadistic... She had to admit it, but in her defense, this baby is infernal, however, Marinette spent the night giving him some chamomile tea to help him sleep and she sang him lullabies. She ended up telling him about her adventures as Ladybug, but in the form of tales. Strangely enough, the baby loved these stories.

He was breaking his toys? Marinette did not replace the broken toy. After a while Damian finally understood that if he wanted toys, he would have to stop breaking them.

He shouted for no reason, just to have a whim? Marinette would sit right in front of him and watch him do it. After a while, realizing that Marinette wasn't going to do anything, he would stop crying and stare at her. This baby was abnormally expressive.

Marinette needed only two weeks to tame the little monster.(Once you've been the baby-sitter for Manon Chamack and the Cesaire twins... nothing frightened you anymore).

The bluenette was worried when Alfred congratulated her for holding out so long. She was the tenth Baby-Sitter to try... the tenth.

How was it possible for an 8 month old baby to rule a house?!

However, something was worrying Marinette more than the strange behavior of baby Damian.

**The Wayne family was completely dysfunctional.**

The first thing Marinette noticed while taking care of Damian was that Alfred did practically everything in the Mansion. Bruce was almost never present, always busy with "meetings" (while Marinette was sure she hadn't seen him leave the Mansion, and she got up at the same time as Alfred!). This bothered her. Alfred was much too old to do so many tasks, and he was the only employee!

Secondly, Timothy had problems with caffeine addiction. Marinette would see him drinking coffee morning, noon and night, two to three cups each time. How on earth could this kid still be alive with so much caffeine in his blood?! He should have died of cardiac arrest a very long time ago!

Then we had to talk about Dick. He had only been here a few days, but Marinette had already realized that this guy was eating too much sugar. He would eat cereal in the morning, help himself to dessert three to four times per meal, eat energy bars several times in the afternoon... He was an active young adult for sure... That was no reason to provoke diabetes! Damn, with so much sugar in his blood, if he ever got a cut, we could use his hemoglobin to sweeten coffee, he must have had such sweet blood... Or worse, bees could one day kidnap him thinking he was a giant piece of honey...

There was young Cassandra too. This girl was very nice, but weird. Really extremely weird. Marinette had noticed that she didn't make any noise when she moved around. Really NO NOISE. This meant that Marinette was very regularly surprised by the young woman. She also seemed to suffer from insomnia, because Marinette often crossed her when she got up sometimes in the evening to check on Damian. The bluenette also noticed that Cassandra had difficulty reading, she could stay several hours staring at the same page of a book... She didn't talk much, however, she smiled at her a lot (which by the way was scary, you don't just look at someone for several minutes without saying anything just to smile at them...). Marinette had to be wary of this girl, it was her instinct telling her so.

Marinette began to worry that Jason was simply never present, or even mentioned. It was as if the young man had completely ceased to exist. She also realized that there were no pictures of him in the Mansion. Really NO WHERE (Yes, she had looked!).

And... There was Bruce. This man was an enigma. Marinette had understood that this man loved his children, well, except Jason for some reason... And she was beginning to suspect that he didn't love Damian either. Indeed, Marinette had the impression that he was running away from Damian. He was hardly ever present at the Manor, barely paid attention to the baby and left her to deal with everything on her own as far as he was concerned. It was as if he was afraid of his own son, which was extremely strange. Why would Batman be afraid of a baby? And more importantly, why would he keep a child if he was going to neglect him later?!

At first, Marinette thought that she had no right to judge the lifestyle of these people. She didn't know them at all, they were her bosses. She didn't have to make value judgments.

_That's not my problem._

Alas, the more time went by, the more Marinette became concerned about their completely strange lifestyle. They slept at random hours, they always seemed irritated. Alfred was trying to give a semblance of cohesion in the chaos but... The man was clearly tired.

_It seemed as if they didn't care about their health... and even their own lives..._

Marinette was familiar with this kind of behavior, because she had had exactly the same problem when she was Ladybug. And still... She didn't have an "Alfred" to help her. This convinced Marinette that Bruce Wayne was definitely Batman, but also confirmed the identity of the others. Red Robin was definitely Tim. Cassandra was Batgirl. That left Nightwing and Red Hood. Considering their posture, Marinette thought that Dick was probably Nightwing (and he lived in Blüdhaven... where Nightwing appeared) and Red Hood was Jason.

The bluenette realized that Alfred seemed to be completely overwhelmed by the situation. She had already caught the butler trying to persuade Bruce several times to take breaks, he was trying to convince Tim to not drink so much coffee... He seemed to call Jason regularly. And Marinette had already seen him reading to Cassandra.

_Damn it... What would happen if Alfred disappeared? No Marinette, don't think about that, it's not your problem! Stop always wanting to help others, it always turns against you!_

**After a whole month, Marinette cracked.**

She started by helping Alfred with the household chores. Now that Damian was finally tamed... uh... educated... she could afford to walk a little more with him in the Manor. She had to insist with the old butler, but finally she succeeded. (He needed to take it easy too!).

Eventually, she managed to crash into the kitchen. First of all by talking with Alfred about her parents' bakery and pastry shop. They talked a lot about tea as well. Soon, Marinette started preparing meals. At first just for her and Alfred, then... With a little bit of insistence, she managed to convince the butler to let her make the meal a few times during the week, while he spent some time with the little devil... uuuh... No... the baby... (she often forgot that he truly is a baby).

As for Tim... the only solution was manipulation. She couldn't replace all the coffee cans with decaffeinated coffee, he'd just have to buy new ones... Besides, the kid probably had hiding places all over the Manor. The only way to get to him was to question his behavior. For example, she would serve him a full breakfast and point out the fact that he had a bruise that wasn't there before. Or she would ask why he needed so much coffee when he had no "meeting". It worked very well, Tim was forced to play the game to hide his secret identity. (However, this tactic wouldn't work all the time, she had to constantly innovate).

Marinette began to spend more time with Cassandra and showed her sewing. The young woman seemed very happy to discover a new activity. She made a great effort to learn sign language, and always took time during Damian's nap to read a book with Cassandra.

She was forced to leave the "Jason case" aside, because she was obviously not yet close enough to the family members to ask them about it. However, patience was a virtue she had acquired over time... She just had to wait for an opportunity to present itself. And Dick did not live in the Manor... But she was planning to deal with his case later....

The "Bruce case" couldn't wait any longer. She hesitated for a long time before taking the plunge. Marinette did not understand this man at all. It was as if he had a dual personality. He was always courteous, kind and friendly with her, but she had already surprised him with a dark expression, the bluenette was sure that sometimes he didn't sleep at night... sometimes he stares blankly... This guy was creepy.

Finally, Marinette chose the direct approach. Before going to Bruce's office, she decided to count her money to see how much she had managed to put aside, she decided to check the price of plane tickets to Alaska and finally, read a whole book about the art and ways to change one's identity... just in case.

Two things were going to happen according to Marinette:

Option 1: She would get fired and be left alive, in which case Marinette would have little time to escape.

Option 2: She was fired and killed. In this case, she would be used as a fertilizer for the soil... Or... Her body would be burned... Or thrown somewhere into the ocean...

The bluenette took her courage by storm and went to Bruce's office. She sighed one last time before knocking on the door.

_Life was good... A little hard at times, but I have no regrets. Well, it's time to say goodbye... Goodbye cruel world. On my tombstone will be written: "died because she couldn't mind her own business and put her nose on Batman's family problems"._


End file.
